---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise variances to water quality standards"
description: "Revise variances to water quality standards"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2019"
identifier: "SB 48"
citation: "Montana SB 48 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Environmental Protection", "Water"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Tom Richmond"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 44
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2018-09-19"
last_action: "2019-05-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/27add65e-d510-4b5b-94bc-91ecc1c76aef"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=48&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=SB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20191"
source_hash: "4083ab3db399c65168c2d175b2161fc80cba465cef6bb582da79e7b745f549c5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-mt"]
---

# Montana SB 48 (2019) — Revise variances to water quality standards

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **SB0048_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0099//SB0048_1.pdf)
2. **SB0048_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0099//SB0048_2.pdf)
3. **SB0048_x.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0099//SB0048_x.pdf)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/billpdf/SB0048.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Pass — **49–1** (pass) · upper
- AMD-001 Pomnichowski D/PASS — **21–29** (fail) · upper
- Do Pass — **43–7** (pass) · upper
- AMD-002 Pomnichowski D/PASS — **21–29** (fail) · upper
- DO PASS AS AMENDED — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **76–23** (pass) · lower
- Do Concur — **76–22** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Tom Richmond — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-09-19** Draft Request Received
- **2018-11-30** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2018-11-30** Draft in Legal Review
- **2018-11-30** Draft in Edit
- **2018-12-05** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [SMH]
- **2018-12-06** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2018-12-06** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2018-12-06** Executive Director Review
- **2018-12-06** Draft in Assembly
- **2018-12-06** Pre-Introduction Letter Sent
- **2018-12-12** Introduced `introduction`
- **2018-12-12** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2018-12-21** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-07** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-02-13** Hearing
- **2019-02-22** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-25** Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-25** Printed - New Version Available
- **2019-02-27** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-02-27** 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Failed `amendment-failure`
- **2019-02-27** 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Failed `amendment-failure`
- **2019-02-27** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2019-02-27** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-02-27** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-27** Transmitted to House
- **2019-02-28** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-28** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-03-06** Hearing Canceled
- **2019-03-18** Hearing
- **2019-04-01** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2019-04-02** Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2019-04-03** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-04-03** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2019-04-04** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-04-04** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-04-04** Returned to Senate
- **2019-04-05** Sent to Enrolling
- **2019-04-05** Returned from Enrolling
- **2019-04-08** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2019-04-15** Signed by President
- **2019-04-18** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-04-26** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-05-02** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-03** Chapter Number Assigned

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/27add65e-d510-4b5b-94bc-91ecc1c76aef`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).